primal defense
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The last time I can remember being concerned about losing the first game of the year was in 1999. We had fourteen games that year and played 17th ranked North Carolina State and lost. Most of the time it's New Mexico State or North Texas.
I'm excited on national TV against Notre Dame and a chance for a big upset and I have no idea how the team will respond. I liked how CS has said that the team has bonded and has confidence.
CHARLIE STRONG AND THE YEAR TWO QUESTION: WHEN WILL TEXAS BE A CONTENDER AGAIN?
AUSTIN, Texas—The last time Charlie Strong's team took the field, the beating it took was so thorough that the opposing coach called the victory "borderline erotic" months later. Texas gained 59 yards in a 31-7 Texas Bowl loss to Arkansas. On the ground, the Longhorns traveled a net of six feet. Bret Bielema's satisfaction was certainly understandable.
The debacle weighed heavy on the Texas program this off-season. The shame of it helped push players through workouts. The Longhorns didn't want to dwell on the performance, but they also didn't want to forget.
And heaven forbid they repeat it. A scheduling choice made when Texas was fresh off an appearance in the 2010 BCS title game and Strong was a first-year head coach at Louisville will put the Longhorns in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday. There, they will face a Notre Dame team every bit as good as or better than the Arkansas team that annihilated them to end last season. Strong won't have an off-season to pick up the pieces afterward, so he knows his team cannot afford another total system failure.
"I look at how last season ended," Strong said of his 6-7 debut campaign in 2014. "We can't start off like last season. Because everything you've built up to this point is gone in a matter of three and a half hours. Now you're talking about trying to regroup and get them to go play 11 more."
When Strong accepted the Texas job in January 2014, he probably never imagined making a statement like that heading into his second season. He was supposed to come to Austin, breathe life into the giant and have the program ready to dominate by now. After all, Texas had good players. Hadn't the recruiting rankings said so? According to Rivals.com, the Longhorns signed the No. 3 recruiting class in '11 and the No. 2 class in '12, meaning the veterans Strong inherited when he took the job should have been capable athletes—even if they hadn't been developed effectively in the waning years of the Mack Brown era.
That obviously wasn't the case. When Texas takes the field at Notre Dame Stadium this Saturday, a true freshman (Connor Williams) will likely start at left tackle. Another true freshman (Patrick Vahe) will likely start at right guard. Yet another (Malik Jefferson) may start at middle linebacker. A freshman starting at cornerback or wide receiver—and the Longhorns could play a few of those, too—for a major program is understandable, but playing true freshmen at the three aforementioned positions at the same time is almost unheard of, especially at a school like Texas. Still, Strong has to do it, because he has to put his best 22 players in the starting lineup.
And, yes, quarterback Tyrone Swoopes remains on that list.
Though Swoopes has been pushed in camp by redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard, Strong believes the junior gives the Longhorns the best chance to win. Perhaps no Texas player had his confidence crushed last season like the oft-criticized Swoopes, who threw 13 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions as a sophomore. But the new up-tempo offense Texas installed this off-season might better suit the skill set of the 6' 4", 243-pounder from tiny Whitewright, Texas. Or it might not. Swoopes was the better leader this off-season, and that helped him stay ahead of Heard. But how Swoopes reacts in the face of a loaded Notre Dame defense should offer a window into how much he has grown in the months since the loss to Arkansas.
Strong and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson have hedged their quarterback bets, though. They have yet to see Heard in a game, and they intend to give him opportunities against the Fighting Irish. What will they get? They have no idea. "Heard may run out there and go about 60 [yards], but the next play he might throw it to them and they may go about 60," Strong said. "He will jump out there with a lot of confidence. Whatever happens after that is going to be interesting."
Indeed. Sometimes coaches don't know exactly what they have in a quarterback until they see him play in a live situation. At Texas A&M in 2012, Jameill Showers threw the prettiest ball on the roster. Johnny Manziel made the offense go. That's why Manziel won the starting job, but Aggies coaches had no idea they had a future Heisman Trophy winner until they saw Manziel dancing around in a 20-17 loss to Florida. Texas hasn't had a quarterback capable of consistently making the offense go since Colt McCoy left after the '09 season, and the failures to secure and/or develop the next great Longhorns signal-caller have been thoroughly documented. Maybe the quarterback Texas seeks is a rejuvenated Swoopes. Or maybe it's Heard, who could be more of a gamer than a practice player. Or maybe it's Kai Locksley, the true freshman out of Baltimore who the Longhorns would prefer to redshirt.
Or maybe that player isn't on the roster yet. Strong believes he is one more recruiting class away from getting the Longhorns where they need to be. That may not be what anyone in burnt orange wants to hear, but it's a fairly realistic assessment. Strong is also being realistic when he says this of the Notre Dame game: "I don't want to just put it all on the quarterback."
The Texas defense should help. The Longhorns were actually quite good on that side of the ball last season, but defenders could only do so much opposite an offense that always seemed a turnover or three-and-out away from handing the opponent prime field position. The new offensive scheme should help. The Irish have no video of what Texas will run in South Bend, so the Longhorns could surprise Notre Dame for a score or two before defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder can make the proper adjustments. Maybe tailbacks Johnathan Gray and D'Onta Foreman will find room up the middle. Maybe senior receiver Daje Johnson, finally off his coach's bad side, will get the ball in space and create something. Maybe freshman wideout John Burt will take the top off Notre Dame's defense.
Or maybe, despite Strong's most fervent hope, it will come down to the quarterback. Because in the same interview in which he expressed his desire to relieve the pressure on Swoopes and Heard, he identified shutting down quarterback Malik Zaire as the key to shutting down Notre Dame's offense. Strong knows exactly how much a quarterback matters, but saying that out loud would create more strain on his unproven players under center. With a new offense, Strong can't know what he's going to get from those two until Saturday night.
Strong appreciates the predictions of gloom and doom for this season. They give him an easy method to motivate his players. He also knows his own history. His second recruiting class at Louisville brought Teddy Bridgewater, DeVante Parker, Lorenzo Mauldin, Calvin Pryor and Gerod Holliman. Maybe Williams, Vahe, Jefferson, Burt and their classmates can change the fortunes of their program the way that group changed Louisville's fortunes. Of course, it should be noted that Louisville went 7-6 in that group's freshman season—the same record the team had the year before. The true breakthrough for that class came in 2012, when the Cardinals went 11-2.
Strong was encouraged during a special teams meeting early this preseason when Gray, a senior, stood up and asked why he wasn't playing on any of the units. Senior cornerback Duke Thomas echoed that sentiment, and suddenly most of the starting position players were clamoring for spots. That produced fierce competition for positions on special teams. Meanwhile, the bravado of the freshman class forced older players to improve or risk getting benched.
This is how a paradigm shift begins, but Strong knows all of that progress can be undone in less than four hours in South Bend. If the Longhorns have truly improved, they'll need to show it under the lights with the nation watching. Otherwise, they risk sliding back into the same pit they climbed out of this off-season.
I'm excited on national TV against Notre Dame and a chance for a big upset and I have no idea how the team will respond. I liked how CS has said that the team has bonded and has confidence.
CHARLIE STRONG AND THE YEAR TWO QUESTION: WHEN WILL TEXAS BE A CONTENDER AGAIN?
AUSTIN, Texas—The last time Charlie Strong's team took the field, the beating it took was so thorough that the opposing coach called the victory "borderline erotic" months later. Texas gained 59 yards in a 31-7 Texas Bowl loss to Arkansas. On the ground, the Longhorns traveled a net of six feet. Bret Bielema's satisfaction was certainly understandable.
The debacle weighed heavy on the Texas program this off-season. The shame of it helped push players through workouts. The Longhorns didn't want to dwell on the performance, but they also didn't want to forget.
And heaven forbid they repeat it. A scheduling choice made when Texas was fresh off an appearance in the 2010 BCS title game and Strong was a first-year head coach at Louisville will put the Longhorns in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday. There, they will face a Notre Dame team every bit as good as or better than the Arkansas team that annihilated them to end last season. Strong won't have an off-season to pick up the pieces afterward, so he knows his team cannot afford another total system failure.
"I look at how last season ended," Strong said of his 6-7 debut campaign in 2014. "We can't start off like last season. Because everything you've built up to this point is gone in a matter of three and a half hours. Now you're talking about trying to regroup and get them to go play 11 more."
When Strong accepted the Texas job in January 2014, he probably never imagined making a statement like that heading into his second season. He was supposed to come to Austin, breathe life into the giant and have the program ready to dominate by now. After all, Texas had good players. Hadn't the recruiting rankings said so? According to Rivals.com, the Longhorns signed the No. 3 recruiting class in '11 and the No. 2 class in '12, meaning the veterans Strong inherited when he took the job should have been capable athletes—even if they hadn't been developed effectively in the waning years of the Mack Brown era.
That obviously wasn't the case. When Texas takes the field at Notre Dame Stadium this Saturday, a true freshman (Connor Williams) will likely start at left tackle. Another true freshman (Patrick Vahe) will likely start at right guard. Yet another (Malik Jefferson) may start at middle linebacker. A freshman starting at cornerback or wide receiver—and the Longhorns could play a few of those, too—for a major program is understandable, but playing true freshmen at the three aforementioned positions at the same time is almost unheard of, especially at a school like Texas. Still, Strong has to do it, because he has to put his best 22 players in the starting lineup.
And, yes, quarterback Tyrone Swoopes remains on that list.
Though Swoopes has been pushed in camp by redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard, Strong believes the junior gives the Longhorns the best chance to win. Perhaps no Texas player had his confidence crushed last season like the oft-criticized Swoopes, who threw 13 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions as a sophomore. But the new up-tempo offense Texas installed this off-season might better suit the skill set of the 6' 4", 243-pounder from tiny Whitewright, Texas. Or it might not. Swoopes was the better leader this off-season, and that helped him stay ahead of Heard. But how Swoopes reacts in the face of a loaded Notre Dame defense should offer a window into how much he has grown in the months since the loss to Arkansas.
Strong and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson have hedged their quarterback bets, though. They have yet to see Heard in a game, and they intend to give him opportunities against the Fighting Irish. What will they get? They have no idea. "Heard may run out there and go about 60 [yards], but the next play he might throw it to them and they may go about 60," Strong said. "He will jump out there with a lot of confidence. Whatever happens after that is going to be interesting."
Indeed. Sometimes coaches don't know exactly what they have in a quarterback until they see him play in a live situation. At Texas A&M in 2012, Jameill Showers threw the prettiest ball on the roster. Johnny Manziel made the offense go. That's why Manziel won the starting job, but Aggies coaches had no idea they had a future Heisman Trophy winner until they saw Manziel dancing around in a 20-17 loss to Florida. Texas hasn't had a quarterback capable of consistently making the offense go since Colt McCoy left after the '09 season, and the failures to secure and/or develop the next great Longhorns signal-caller have been thoroughly documented. Maybe the quarterback Texas seeks is a rejuvenated Swoopes. Or maybe it's Heard, who could be more of a gamer than a practice player. Or maybe it's Kai Locksley, the true freshman out of Baltimore who the Longhorns would prefer to redshirt.
Or maybe that player isn't on the roster yet. Strong believes he is one more recruiting class away from getting the Longhorns where they need to be. That may not be what anyone in burnt orange wants to hear, but it's a fairly realistic assessment. Strong is also being realistic when he says this of the Notre Dame game: "I don't want to just put it all on the quarterback."
The Texas defense should help. The Longhorns were actually quite good on that side of the ball last season, but defenders could only do so much opposite an offense that always seemed a turnover or three-and-out away from handing the opponent prime field position. The new offensive scheme should help. The Irish have no video of what Texas will run in South Bend, so the Longhorns could surprise Notre Dame for a score or two before defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder can make the proper adjustments. Maybe tailbacks Johnathan Gray and D'Onta Foreman will find room up the middle. Maybe senior receiver Daje Johnson, finally off his coach's bad side, will get the ball in space and create something. Maybe freshman wideout John Burt will take the top off Notre Dame's defense.
Or maybe, despite Strong's most fervent hope, it will come down to the quarterback. Because in the same interview in which he expressed his desire to relieve the pressure on Swoopes and Heard, he identified shutting down quarterback Malik Zaire as the key to shutting down Notre Dame's offense. Strong knows exactly how much a quarterback matters, but saying that out loud would create more strain on his unproven players under center. With a new offense, Strong can't know what he's going to get from those two until Saturday night.
Strong appreciates the predictions of gloom and doom for this season. They give him an easy method to motivate his players. He also knows his own history. His second recruiting class at Louisville brought Teddy Bridgewater, DeVante Parker, Lorenzo Mauldin, Calvin Pryor and Gerod Holliman. Maybe Williams, Vahe, Jefferson, Burt and their classmates can change the fortunes of their program the way that group changed Louisville's fortunes. Of course, it should be noted that Louisville went 7-6 in that group's freshman season—the same record the team had the year before. The true breakthrough for that class came in 2012, when the Cardinals went 11-2.
Strong was encouraged during a special teams meeting early this preseason when Gray, a senior, stood up and asked why he wasn't playing on any of the units. Senior cornerback Duke Thomas echoed that sentiment, and suddenly most of the starting position players were clamoring for spots. That produced fierce competition for positions on special teams. Meanwhile, the bravado of the freshman class forced older players to improve or risk getting benched.
This is how a paradigm shift begins, but Strong knows all of that progress can be undone in less than four hours in South Bend. If the Longhorns have truly improved, they'll need to show it under the lights with the nation watching. Otherwise, they risk sliding back into the same pit they climbed out of this off-season.
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